Being Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind
The key to successfully putting off the old man and putting on the new man, in Eph 4:22-24, is to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. The mind of your old man is affected by your:
Carnal nature – Rom 8:7. The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Is 55:8, God said, “my thoughts are not your thoughts”.
Thoughts – Prov 23:7. “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he”.
Imaginations – Gen 8:21. “The imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth”. Imaginations are also formed by images. The devil can also bring these thoughts and imaginations to mind.
The world – Rom 12:2. “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”. “Many… mind earthly things”, Phil 3:19.
Drugs, alcohol, childhood trauma, etc. can also affect your mind.
The downfall of many Christians, particularly ones that grow up in church, is that they learn ways to dress up the old man in the new man’s clothes. They learn how to talk the talk, walk the walk, dress the dress, act the act, etc. They are genuinely Pharisees. Every thing about their outward appearance gives them and you the impression that they are right with God, living the life of the new man. But inside their mind is the mind of the old man. And over time it becomes apparent that they are natural not spiritual, old not new. Their thoughts aren’t right…
The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, Prov 15:26. You have to be “right” to have right thoughts. “The thoughts of the righteous are right”, Prov 12:5.
Renewing your mind doesn’t happen overnight. The man in the Gadarenes who was in his right mind immediately after Jesus cast out the devil is an exception. Renewing your mind happens steadily throughout your life. 2 Cor 4:16 says, “the inward man is renewed day by day”. Renewing your mind is a continual process of:
Being Renewed in your imaginations, 2 Cor 10:3-6. This is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring into captivity every thought to his obedience. And we have to quit looking at things that stimulate these imaginations. David said, “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes”, Ps 101:3. TV, movies, videos, pictures, people, etc. stimulate these imaginations. Cut off influences of the world.
Being Renewed in your spirit, Titus 3:5, “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost”. Eph 4:23 says, “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.
David said in Ps 51:10, “create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me”. 2 Tim 1:7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”.
Being Renewed in knowledge, Col 3:10 says, “put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him”. The Bible gives you the knowledge of God. This is not to puff you up, but to renew you in the image of him that created you.
We have the mind of Christ, 1 Cor 2:16. We start thinking about things the way that God does. We become spiritually minded. Rom 8:5, “they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit”. We start to mind heavenly things.
Conclusion: Don’t try to live the lie of fake spirituality in the old man. This is a miserable way to live. Rather, start being renewed in the spirit of your mind and by putting on the new man. Let the Lord Jesus Christ, by casting down your imaginations, and the Holy Spirit and the Bible by renewing you, renew your mind. And put on the new man who is righteous and truly holy. This is such a better way to live.